Houmous with coriander

Houmous has become a staple in our kitchen. As the fabolous “Ella does it” has put it: “there ist something fundamentally vegan about houmous!”

I did not always feel that way. I used to buy houmous, not make it. And there was no version I really enjoyed. A few were less boring than others, but all in all I was no fan! This has changed!

Our journey to the land of houmous started here in England. We couldn’t get an organic vegan version. However, being the land of beans and cans, you can easily get cooked chickpeas, so we set out to make our own houmous. And even our first attempts were incredible. So much nicer than everything I had tried before, simply because it was fresh. But as time passed the houmous- mania was becoming quite intense and the empty cans were sitting in the kitchen, looking at us reproachfully… this was no permanent solution!

So we started the next chapter of our houmous fairy tale and cooked the chickpeas at home. This doesn’t sound too exciting, I know, but it is rather time-consuming because the dried chickpeas have to soak over night and then need to be cooked for 1.5 -2 hours. Spontaneous cravings? Not so much.

But believe me, it’s absolutely worth it! Every minute of it! Especially if you make the houmous while chickpeas are still warm. Warm houmous is delicious! Who would have thought? Not me…

The result was so incredibly good that you didn’t even need anything to go with it, the humus was IT, we wanted to lick it straight out of the blender…

And since our humus-cravings tend to appear quite regularly now (basically every night!), it’s easy to plan the soaking and cooking.

Give it a go! You won’t want to go back, I’m sure.

You will need (basic recipe)

250g Cooked chickpeas (If you’re cooking the chickpeas yourself, don’t forget to add a piece of kombu to the soaking and cooking water for better digestibility – another advantage compared canned ones!)

Add all ingredients (apart from coriander) to a small blender, e.g. A NutriBullet. But any other blender will do, too…

Add water so it just about covers the chickpeas (or a little less, if you prefer a less liquid texture) and mix until smooth. Season with salt and lemon to taste.

My favourite version includes coriander. So chop it up roughly, add to the blender and give it another quick mix. Apart from being incredibly healthy, coriander makes the houmous irresistably fresh and makes it even more addictive.

Based on this recipe, get creative and try adding your own favourites: dried tomatoes, roasted aubergine etc…

Houmous is also great for a picnic. Celery, carrots or courgette sticks act as perfect spoons and create a super healthy snack!